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‘Scary’… Ian Wright says he’s really worried about £35m Arsenal player right now
Ian Wright had admitted he’s worried about Oleksandr Zinchenko’s recent form for Arsenal.
The 27-year-old has only recently returned from a calf injury as he made his comeback against Brentford on the weekend.
Oleksandr Zinchenko is yet to regain his starting spot at left-back, with Jakub Kiwior impressing in the position in his absence.
It’s fair to say that Zinchenko hasn’t been at his best this season after a brilliant debut campaign last time out.
The full-back was snapped up for from Manchester City and made an instant impact in Mikel Arteta’s side.
But after some mixed performances for Arsenal this season, Ian Wright is concerned about Zinchenko.
Wright worried about Zincheko’s form for Arsenal
Speaking on after Arsenal’s penalty shootout win over Porto last night, Wright raised concerns about Zinchenko.
It was pointed out to him that the Arsenal supporters let out collective groans every time he gave the ball away on Tuesday evening.
“Do you know what I think has happened with Zinchenko? Because in the game he’s kind of eased out of the picture at the moment with what we’re doing and the times that he has played and the reason why I think the crowd are impatient with what we want from him is because we want him to keep the ball and progress it, not give it away,” he said.
“There were just a couple of times, I don’t know if it’s rust or because he hasn’t played, I don’t know if it’s because he’s come on in the game and it’s quite hectic for him but he gave the ball away a few times again.”
Wright was then asked if Zinchenko was trying to do too much while inverting as a left-back.
“Yes, yes! And it’s scary and I’m feeling it, I think the fans might be feeling it because one of the tell-tale signs with a player when they’re feeling a little bit frustrated is the groans [from the crowd] instantly,” he responded.
“It’s not like they thought we’d let him warm up to it, as soon as he gave the first ball away they were like ‘ah’ because there is so much on the line.
“He’s got to come on and he’s got to be the one that comes on and keeps it composed for us and keeps the ball. If you have to do that silly thing that I hate seeing players do, pass it to each other… but I’m worried about that.”
Zinchenko was integral to Arsenal’s surprise push for the Premier League title last season.
The Ukraine international excels while playing in an inverted full-back role due to his ability on the ball.
But Arteta has experimented with a slightly different set-up in recent weeks, with Kiwior offering a different profile at left-back.
Zinchenko now faces a battle to regain his place in Arteta’s XI and with Kiwior continuing to impress, he may have to bide his time.